Turbine

ABSTRACT

The turbine includes a central hub adapted to accommodate a power take-off and a plurality of densely populated wires extending radially outward from the hub. A fluid propellant means directs a propelling fluid into the wires so as to cause rotation of the turbine. The turbine can be encased in a housing in which case the fluid propellant means and an exhaust means extend through the housing.

[ Dec.2,1975

1 TURBINE [76] Inventor: William L. Frey, 303 Ivory Ave.,

Pittsburgh, Pa. 15214 [22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 458,026

[52] U.S. Cl. 415/76; 415/90; 415/141; 416/240; 415/202 [51] Int. Cl. ..F01D 1/34 [58] Field of Search 415/90, 140, 141, 76, 202; 416/240 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 86,320 1/1869 Golay 415/141 530,375 12/1894 Willey 415/141 1,027,163 5/1912 Werner 416/240 1,182,212 5/1916 Ruchti 416/240 1,489,624 4/1924 Zottoli 415/141 2,245,632 6/1941 Winkler 415/90 2,448,849 9/1948 Wagner et a1. 415/141 2,998,099 8/1961 Hollingsworth 415/90 3,538,657 11/1970 Macrow 415/141 3,794,448 2/1974 Albertson 415/90 3,826.085 7/1974 Dworski 415/76 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 419,243 10/1910 France 415/202 460,316 11/1950 Italy 415/202 403,584 12/1933 United Kingdom 415/202 Primary Examiner-Henry F. Raduazo Attorney, Agent, or FirmWebb, Burden, Robinson & Webb [57] ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures US. atent Dec. 2, 1975 TURBINE BAKCGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention My invention relates to turbines and, more particularly, to an improved machine for generating rotary mechanical power from the energy in a stream of fluid.

2. Description of the Prior Art Turbines effect the conversion of fluid to mechanical energy through the principles of impulse, reaction or a mixture of the two. Standard turbines normally require a stream of fluids, such as from a compressor, which is then converted to velocity energy by passing through a system of stationary and moving blades in the turbine. Changes in the magnitude and direction of the fluid velocity are made to cause tangential forces on the rotating blades producing mechanical power via the turning rotor. The turbine wheel itself may vary from the aforementioned complex combination of stationary and moving blades to simple buckets placed on the periphery of a turbine wheel which are impinged upon by a water jet as in the Pelton wheel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention provides the advantages of high mechanical efficiency, good balance, no upper limit to size or output, lower weight for a given output, simple lubrication, negligible warm up, greater reliability and longer life, all of which are accomplished through a compact and noncomplex turbine as compared to the turbines utilized heretofore.

My turbine is a wheel having a central hub adapted to accommodate the power take-off and a plurality of densely populated wires extending radially outward from the hub. A fluid is directed into the wires in a plane nonnal to the axis of rotation of the hub so as to cause rotation of the wheel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an isometric of my turbine wheel;

FIG. 2 is a section through the wheel showing impingement of the fluid; and

FIG. 3 is a section through my wheel encased by a housing illustrating a plurality of intakes and exhausts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS My turbine or turbine wheel, generally designated 10, consists of a central hub 11 to accommodate an output shaft 14 and a plurality of densely populated wires 12 extending radially out from the hub 11. A pair of side plates 13 are conveniently mounted to the hub 11 to protect the plurality of wires 12.

A fluid source such as jet 15 from a compressor 25, diagramatically illustrated, is positioned so as to direct a fluid such as compressed air directly into the plurality of wires 12. The jet 15 is directed into the wire 12 in a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the wheel and the output shaft 14. The jet to maximize performance is positioned immediately adjacent the wire 12 and is angularly positioned in that the bottom portion of the jet is closer to the wires than the top portion of the jet. Likewise the fluid should enter the wire 12 along a chord of the wheel 10 as opposed to tangentially.

My turbine wheel 10 can be encased by a housing 16 which is positioned about turbine wheel 10 so as to form a small gap 21 between the free ends of the wires 12 and the housing 16. Where a housing 16 is employed, the fluid source must extend therethrough in the form of an' intake17. To maintain the maximum performance a nozzle'15' extends into the intake to effect the angular relationship with the wire 12. Because of the centrifugal forces created'by the rotation of'the turbine 10, an exhaust 19 extends through the housing 16 in spaced relationship to the intake 17, FIG. 3. I have also illustrated by fathom lines a second fluid intake 18 and a corresponding second exhaust 20 spaced therefrom. In a similar manner additional intakes and exhausts can be utilized through the housing 16 and about the wheel 10.

In operation, the fluid is merely directed into the wires 12 as illustrated by arrows 20 in FIGS. 2 and 3. The fluid strikes the densely populated plurality of wires 12 causing the wheel to rotate with the kinetic energy of rotation being transmitted through the power output shaft 14 for some useful purpose. Depending on the application and environment of the turbine wheel,

the wires 12 can be changed in terms of their pertinent dimensions, random vis-a-vis patterned order and their density likewise can be controlled. Likewise, the particular material employed to make up the wires can be altered. The wires can also be reinforced in a known manner such as by corkscrewing them or the like. The porous yet dense network of wire can be accomplished through other means such as a spaced and stacked mesh network or a porous maze having a continuity of pores.

Utilizing a small compressor with one pound of air output, I have developed 1,800 revolutions per minute on an output shaft of 2 inches in diameter and 2 feet in length which is mounted in suitable bearings on two pillar blocks. The particular wheel employed was 12 inches in diameter and had a thickness of 3 /2 inches. Two 12 inch backup plates were employed and the total weight of the revolving unit was pounds. The pound of pressure was directed through a inch nozzle.

Many applications are seen where a high performance compact and noncomplex mechanism is required to change fluid potential energy to rotating kinetic energy. one such application foreseen is the utilization of such a turbine on the exhaust leg of an internal combustion engine wherein the exhaust is utilized as the propelling fluid and the turbine is conected to the crankshaft directly or indirectly to supplement the power output thereof. Likewise, the turbine can be used as a power source for electrical generation by utilizing field coils along the periphery of the wheel.

I claim:

1. A turbine including:

A. a turbine wheel having a central hub and a plurality of densely spaced wire extending radially outward from the hub substantially in a plane normal to an axis of rotation of the hub;

B. a power take-off shaft connected to the hub coaxially with the hub axis of rotation;

C. a fluid propellant means including a jet having an outlet positioned in an oblique plane to a periphery of the wheel in that said outlet has a first portion adjacent the wire and closer to the wire than a remainder portion of the outlet, said jet directing fluid at an acute angle chordally into the wire and riphery thereof, said fluid propellant means extending through said housing and exhaust means circumferentially spaced and chordally positioned from the fluid propellant means and extending through the casing to exhaust the fluid.

4. The turbine of claim 3 including at least two pairs of fluid propellant means and exhaust means, said fluid propellant means and said exhaust means alternately positioned about the periphery of the wheel. 

1. A turbine including: A. a turbine wheel having a central hub and a plurality of densely spaced wire extending radially outward from the hub substantially in a plane normal to an axis of rotation of the hub; B. a power take-off shaft connected to the hub coaxially with the hub axis of rotation; C. a fluid propellant means including a jet having an outlet positioned in an oblique plane to a periphery of the wheel in that said outlet has a first portion adjacent the wire and closer to the wire than a remainder portion of the outlet, said jet directing fluid at an acute angle chordally into the wire and in the plane normal to the axis of rotation of the hub; and D. means associated with and positioned along opposite lateral sides of the wheel to confine the chordally entering fluid within the wheel so that said fluid is discharged at points remote from said jet outlet.
 2. The turbine of claim 1, said confining means comprising a pair of side plates, each extending substaNtially the diametral extent of the lateral sides.
 3. The turbine of claim 1 including a housing encasing said turbine wheel and slightly spaced from the periphery thereof, said fluid propellant means extending through said housing and exhaust means circumferentially spaced and chordally positioned from the fluid propellant means and extending through the casing to exhaust the fluid.
 4. The turbine of claim 3 including at least two pairs of fluid propellant means and exhaust means, said fluid propellant means and said exhaust means alternately positioned about the periphery of the wheel. 